Bellator
MMA announced Tuesday that it has signed a multi-year broadcast
deal with Fox Sports Latin America, and the Viacom-owned
promotion’s chairman and CEO believes it could serve as the first
step toward a larger partnership in international distribution.
“This is the No. 1 sports network in all of Latin America -- far
and away the biggest reach and most established player through
South and Central America and Mexico,” Bjorn Rebney told
Sherdog.com on Tuesday. “My goal from the very start was to always
align with the No. 1 distribution platform in the U.S., which was
always Spike TV and remains Spike to this day. To be able to go
down to Latin America, which is the second largest MMA market in
the world, and align us in a long term deal with the No. 1 sports
network in all of Latin America is perfect. We could not be
happier.”

The multi-year deal now sees Fox Sports Latin America receive
Bellator’s archived content, including best-of shows and events
from prior seasons, as well as select live events, such as
Bellator’s upcoming Nov. 2 pay-per-view.

Bellator is currently obligated to honor a pan-regional agreement
with Turner Broadcasting and a Brazilian deal with Esporte
Interativo through 2014, Rebney said. In 2015, however, Fox Sports
Latin America will have total exclusivity of all Bellator content
in the region.

“It doesn’t just involve the 25 live events per year we’re going to
do [domestically], but it involves live events we’ll be doing down
in South America, in key markets in Mexico and Brazil and other
countries in the region. It also includes shoulder programming and
unique Latin America-specific content that we’ll be producing with
Fox Sports,” said Rebney. “In all the conversations we’ve had with
our partners at Fox, everything they’re doing is aiming at 2015 to
start live events on the ground and then continue to do that in
2016 and beyond.”

Bellator’s deal comes a little more than two years after the
Ultimate Fighting Championship signed a seven-year domestic
broadcast deal with Fox Networks, though Bellator had previously
aired live shows on the old Fox Sports Net during its second season
in 2010. The organization then moved on to MTV2 and eventually
Spike. Rebney said that maintaining his relationships over the last
three years at Fox eventually led him to discuss an international
broadcast deal.

“About five months ago, one of the executives at Fox that I kept a
great relationship with said they felt like Bellator would be an
unbelievable fit for Fox Sports International in Latin America and
potentially a series of other countries around the world,” said
Rebney. “[He asked if I] would have a problem with [Fox Sports]
having this domestic alliance with the UFC and if I would talk with
them, and I said, ‘You’re the No. 1 sports network in the world. Of
course not. I’d be happy to [talk].

“They may have an association with the UFC that is U.S. specific,
but [Fox Sports is] the biggest and the most successful, and they
reach the most consumers, so let’s try to find a way to make this
work. My anticipation is that this is probably the first step in a
much larger alliance, because Fox Sports has got a huge footprint
in the Middle East and Africa, and they’re ever expanding their
footprint in western Europe. They have an enormous international
sports presence.”